


23 Minutes

by Donkey



Series: vana writes shitty ninjago fanfic [2]
Category: Lego Ninjago, The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Jay Walker Has Anxiety, Kai Smith has Depression, Kai has CIP, Legos are gay, M/M, They go to highschool but its not a highschool AU, i wrote this at 2am so dont expect it to be good, no betas we die like the kinnies we really are, that one soulmate au where u feel ur SM's pain, this was gonna be a 50k enemies to lovers lava fic but i said 'fuck that its plasma' bc im a hoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23953549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Donkey/pseuds/Donkey
Summary: He feels the fire dancing on his palms. Every other hour, exactly 23 minutes in each time, he can feel the heat begging him to implode.
Relationships: Kai/Jay Walker, past Nya/Jay Walker
Series: vana writes shitty ninjago fanfic [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1745536
Comments: 1
Kudos: 70





	23 Minutes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Solariac](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solariac/gifts).



Jay didn’t like how his hands felt like they were on fire.

Every other hour, at around the 23 minute mark, his palms felt like they were touching a scorching hot pan, wanting nothing more than to burn his hands off. He seriously felt like he was going to implode each and every time -- literally so much so that he had to head to the pharmacy to get some instant soulmate pain relief pills, hoping to God it’d dull the pain if not for just a moment. He didn’t know how much more he could take of this.

Jay had his fair share of pain in his life. Literally being a saviour of the city meant he was in nothing but pain half the time, but this was something different entirely -- soulmate pain was intensified tenfold. The scientists dedicating their life to solving ‘soulmates’ had only scratched the surface, but they had said that it was as if the pain was a warning to those who felt it -- it was likely they were in danger. Jay didn’t know how to feel about that.

In 9th grade, he began dating Nya in spite of the pain he felt. In 11th he met his soulmate, and he really didn’t know how to feel about that, either. It was, without a doubt, _Kai_ , Nya’s brother, and he knew it’d be his downfall. He was the only person he had ever met who could light a fire on his hands at will, and he doubted anyone else would purposefully do that; this meant he’d inevitably leave the actual love of his life, Nya, and hurt her in the process. How was he supposed to deal with some stupid universe deciding he’d end up with his first-ever girlfriend’s _brother_? He wasn’t even gay. Not to mention he hardly _ever_ talked to Kai. How was this supposed to work? Kai hardly ever talked to anyone other than Lloyd and Nya. He had his own little group, and that was that.

He used to be fine with it. Now he’s not.

For the past few weeks, he had been watching Kai get up mid-lesson to stop some random crook stealing a purse for no reason other than wanting to feel better about himself. When he saw him do it for the first time, he hadn’t thought anything of it, but quickly learned it was something to care about - Kai would get hit a lot whenever stopping the crooks, and likely activate his powers, too.

Jay had to start bringing the pills to class.

Nya started noticing things were weird with him after about a month of him staring intently at her brother. She had asked Jay what was wrong after a class one day, but he brushed it off as nothing, telling her not to worry -- this sparked something in her, because the following day, she had approached Kai.

It was lunchtime, of course, and Nya had just asked Kai the million-dollar question: _What’s up with Jay?_ He didn’t know how to answer, so he just shrugged and prayed to God she’d be fine with it. Kai didn’t want to open his mouth.

In truth, Kai had noticed Jay staring at him, but said nothing. He really didn’t want another reason to not want to go to school, _or_ to avoid Jay. He was lucky he had gotten through this much of highschool without talking to him, let alone when they were on patrols together. He wanted nothing more than to make his sister happy.

That’s probably why he hated the whole ‘having a crush on his sister’s boyfriend’ thing.

He knew that no matter the circumstance, dating her ex would end in complete disaster. Nya would hate the both of them, and he would end up with a third member of the family who had abandoned him. He couldn’t go through that again. He wouldn’t be able live with himself.

He clenched his fists, allowing his nails to dig into his skin. Seconds passed as he contemplated the impact he’d have on everyone if he got together with Jay. _Him_. His fingers dug in more, only reminding him of how much he hated that he couldn’t feel anything. He felt like a freak.

He clenched them harder. He saw a drop of blood hit the lunch table. His sister’s head turned to look at him she noticed the blood with an indignant look on her face. She said something he couldn’t hear. This happens a lot, and each and every time, almost nothing can snap him out of this st--

He heard a soft whimper come from across the table, the sound so _quiet_ he was sure he wasn’t supposed to hear it. It came from Jay, as the boy cradled his hand on the table with a never-ending smile. He looked completely fine, so why did he sound like he was in pain mere seconds ago? God, he was so stupid. How could he just _not notice_ Jay’s pain? He felt disappointment aimed towards himself rise in his stomach.

He was hesitant to do anything. Had he accidentally done anything to Jay earlier? Did he burn him by accident during a patrol? No, he made sure Jay never got too close. Did he break his wrist again? He so desperately wanted to ask him what was going on, _if he was okay_ , but his sister was right there. He couldn’t risk Nya suspecting anything at all. He didn’t want her to leave, too.

As if a wind came to blow the thoughts away, he cocked his head slightly when Jay’s hand relaxed the second he unstrained his. Did… did he do that? Was the pain on his palm because of him? He knew what this meant. _He wanted to throw up._

Jay couldn’t believe this was happening. One moment, Nya was telling off Kai for bleeding on the table, his hand in excruciating pain, and the next, it was as if nothing ever happened. Kai had moved his fingers away, and the pain had subsided. But _no_ , that wasn’t even the weirdest part -- Kai had been looking at him the whole time. He felt like Kai knew he was inflicting pain on him, and the consequences that came from that; he felt like he was doing it as a test to see if he was his soulmate.

Jay didn’t stop him as Kai quickly got up and excused himself from the lunch table, but Nya certainly didn’t stop Jay from getting up to go after him, either. She just... Let them go, with a suspicious yet sad look on her face. Did she know? He wanted to ask her _desperately_ , but now wasn’t the time; Kai had decided to walk down the hall openly, heading towards the doors that lead out of the school. 

He didn’t have much time to say something. “Hey, Kai!” He exclaimed, jogging a bit to catch up to him. Why was his heart beating so fast? It was like he couldn’t feel anything other than the tingly sensation of his pulse and the pumping sound in his ears. He didn’t know if he liked how it felt. He felt like he was on drugs.

Kai slowly stopped, turning back to look at him cautiously. His face was tinted a paler shade than usual. Jay didn’t like how sick he looked. “Kai, are you okay?” He asked lowly, even though no one else was around to hear it. _Kai, do you know?_

He gave Jay a wobbly smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just had a little accident with my hand. It’s no biggie.” _Please don’t talk to me anymore. I could ruin everything._

“A-are you sure?” Jay dared to ask a question he knew he shouldn’t be asking, followed by a sentence he knew he should never have even considered saying -- this would break the walls that were so _meticulously_ constructed, each brick a certain memory that helped protect him and his friends from harm. _Not to mention it would likely wreck their lives._ Every last word of would say next could only cause destruction, and Jay knew that. He knew it’d break Nya’s heart, and he knew this was the one thing he literally should never have said under any circumstance. “It-it really hurt. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Kai swore he heard the sound of glass shattering.

“‘It really hurt,’” he echoed back. Jay nodded slowly. “You-you felt that?”

Jay could hardly hear. His ears were ringing, and his heart was beating way faster than it was a minute ago. Was this normal? He felt like he was on an adrenaline high. Why did he feel like this?

He nodded again, slower this time. Kai was speechless. Jay Walker was his soulmate. Jay Walker was his **fucking** soulmate. He was going to cry. “You,” he started, his voice weak and wavering, “you’re-you’re my soulmate.” It was a statement. Jay nodded a third time. “Oh my God.”

Jay would’ve thought it was a bad ‘oh God’ if it weren’t for the hands around his neck and the body against his front side. His legs felt numb. His brain felt dead. He didn’t like how vulnerable he seemed.

“Y-yeah, I guess I am.”

Kai pulled back, smiling softly at him. He looked like he had just been reunited with a childhood friend. “You don’t understand how happy this makes me,” he seemed to whisper. Jay couldn’t help but say the same.

**Author's Note:**

> deadass wrote this in one sitting at like... 2 am. it was gonna be a dumbass-shipping 50k enemies to friends to lovers but my stupidass decided to write this instead <3 
> 
> this started as a shitpost. you're welcome.


End file.
